Well, I was planning on writing up a lengthy trip report, but erm, when it came down to it I couldn't really be arsed and am sure it would've turned into a novel and bored everyone, anyway But, I thought I should write a bit up....

....WHAT a trip, just awesome.

Did 6 hugely enjoyable laps, 4 dry, 1 damp (with a dry line) and 1 wet (my wipers decided to stay continuously on halfway round, necessitating me removing/refitting the fuse several times on the way home from Germany ).

The dry track was a real chance to really test out the suspension and braking mods that I wasn't really able to try last time and whilst a 145 aint the best handling car in the world (and someway short of a GTV, it has to be said), I had SO much fun in it, the handling much much improved over standard. Probably the most impressive mod was the CG Lock, that I fitted a couple of days before (for details, see my garage). It is simply superb, really pinning me into the seat....unlike Joel, who was flying round all over the place, during the lap he came along!!

I can report that the brakes passed with flying colours, even after a really really big test at Breidscheid, when faced with stationary cars, round the blind bend - Despite two hugely impressive plumes of smoke from the front brakes, they were still totally fade-free with no problems whatsoever. If ever there was evidence needed of the benefit of uprated brakes on a racetrack (sorry, public toll-road ), THIS WAS IT!

There were, as usual plenty of crashes whilst there, including on the Sunday I saw the remains of an M3 and bits of a bike on the final straight, the (Brit) biker lay dead on the other side of the track .

There was another (Brit biker) fatality on the Monday, he lost it on the last bend, Galgenkopf, flying head on into the armco, the bike was described as 'disentegrated', the rider was catapulted over, into the trees. He didn't stand a chance. After this one, the track was closed for the day, some 3 hours early. This one clearly warranted a full Police Investigation......

Amongst the people we chatted with were a bunch of (rather wealthy) chaps, with a nice array of motors, including a Gallardo (which NEVER went on track the whole time, it's owner being 'too nervous to take it out' ), 996 GT3 RS (which was trashed on the first day!) and a tuned 3.9 litre 996 GT3, who's owner has a 2nd at home!

I had 2 passenger laps in this (also CG Lock equipped, for the passenger )GT3, the car was frankly, f**king savage in acceleration but well, the owner didn't seem to me to be exactly full of talent.....I had a bit more evidence of this on the 2nd, full-on lap when he lost it at T13.

The car went sideways, then spun the other way, before he (somewhat fortunately) gathered it up. I really thought we were going to hit the (very hard looking) concrete wall, but thankfully and more to the point, luckily, we didn't! Both of us were pretty shaken up and after this incident I think he only did literally a couple more laps the whole weekend.

To be honest, I probably had more fun as a passenger in the GTV and certainly found it more educational. Joel is stil very quick and still happy to 'rag it' round the corners . The interesting thing we discovered is whilst the GTV (and it must be said, it's owner) is better round the corners, the 145 is very much quicker in acceleration.....Joel reporting that despite having his foot to the floor, the 145 pulled away noticeably . It turns out that whilst they're identically-powered, the gearing is shorter in the 145 (4000@80mph vs 3600@80mph for the GTV) and it became evident that on quite a few corners, I would need 3rd or 4th, whereas the GTV would need to be in 2nd or 3rd.

In fact, there are NO 2nd gear corners for the 145, even the tight 'S' at Wehrseifen, or the Karrussell. This was an interesting discovery and something that had never crossed my mind!

Insofar as car highlights go, well the BMW E30 M3 Hartge did it for me once more (Turbo'd M5 engine!!). What an immaculate car. The GSXR-powered Smart was funny and it was a treat seeing and snapping the legendary RingMini. For me though, the best noise is still the frankly, staggering M3 CSL. To hear those at full chat is just incredible.......

Anyhoo, there was much incident, lots of fun, lots of spectating (including for me, lots of new places to view from) and a really really great time on track. I learnt so much there this time, I'm much quicker than I was, much braver too and the thrill when finishing a really satisfying lap is just incredible.

I remember when I went the first time, I said that you really can have as much fun in an old Alfa as anyone can in say, a Porsche. For me, this trip has proved beyond any doubt that you can easily have MUCH MORE fun in one. I mean, the Gallardo that never went out.....the GT3 RS that was stuffed on the first day and the GT3 that was probably much scarier than it's owner realised. Frankly, I felt the richer man this trip.

Best noise simply has to be from the M3 CSL's.....I don't know WHAT black magic goes on in that carbon airbox (check out the size of the intake, yes it really is THAT big!!) but at full chat, these things are simply awesome......

And here's the oh-so-cool alternative 'ring sticker, spotted in the Museum shop, here modelled on an 'RS......these will be on my next car methinks

And I will end here by declaring my overall favourite car of the entire trip as the simply stunning Hartge M3 3.5 Turbo....

I got back at about 10:30 last night and haven't even started to unpack or check out my photos yet. I'll post up some photos when I've had chance to download them, but it might take a while because there's something like 3800-odd

No in-car video this time, other than one in the wet on the first day with the camera hand-held by Sweens. To be honest, those first three days were too busy, and the weather too changeable, to get any decent in-car footage anyway. Then after we saw one Merc driver have his camera gear confiscated by a marshall at the circuit entrance I decided to keep my stuff securely locked in the boot.